Reporter Mo Rocca and a videographer work on a story on Grant Cottage for CBS Sunday Morning. (Photo provided)

WILTON -- A popular state historic site is soon expected to gain national exposure on network television.

A four-person CBS Sunday Morning crew visited Grant Cottage State Historic Site in Wilton last week to film a piece about America's 18th president that will probably air close to Veterans Day.

Ulysses S. Grant spent the last five weeks of his life at Mount McGregor, where he raced to finish his memoirs before dying from throat cancer July 23, 1885.

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"To send a four-person crew here from New York City for an entire day is an extraordinary commitment," said Tim Welch, president of Friends of Grant Cottage. "I think they're going to do an extensive piece. The focus will be the cottage. Also, they were quite intrigued by the fact that it's surrounded by a state prison."

The CBS team included reporter Mo Rocca, producer Mary Lou Teel, a cameraman and a soundman.

"They were extraordinarily meticulous," said Welch, a former Channel 6 weatherman. "The photographer really knew his stuff. His camera cost more than my car."

Rocca has a keen interest in U.S. presidents and visited Grant Cottage about 10 years ago, which inspired him to do a story about Grant.

Welch said CBS officials contacted the cottage about a week beforehand to schedule a visit.

Inside the cottage, Rocca was especially intrigued by the wax-encased floral displays from Grant's funeral and wanted to know if they were waxed before the ceremony or later on. They're the original flowers, now 127 years old.

Other items of interest are the cocaine water used to ease Grant's pain; his top hat, shown in his famous last photo; and the opposing chairs that were set up for him to rest in. He couldn't recline in a regular bed.

Grant's body laid in state at Mount McGregor for 10 days before it was taken to New York City, where throngs turned out for the largest funeral procession the city had ever seen.

Grant Cottage is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 8, its last day of the 2012 season.

A Fall Family Day is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 7, with Civil War songs and related activities.